Words Never Spoken
by LightBender
Summary: Can you fall in love with someone that you haven't even exchanged 1000 words with?
1. Chapter 1

_**Words Never Spoken**_

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, just a few of the interactions that happen between the characters.

**AN: **This is my first (real) first-person-present-tense story. I'm still getting the hang of this. I'm also not sure of the title. I may change it. This is also my second Avatar story in over a year. So, you can be gentle. Or, you can pull a Toph and go tough on me. Or an Azula. I don't care. Flamers, bring it on!

R&R if so inclined.

* * *

"_I know that you're hiding things,  
Using gentle words to shelter me,  
Your words were like a dream,  
But dreams could never fool me,  
Not that easily"_

* * *

I should really be happy. The war's over, peace has been restored. We're all alive. There are uncorrupted people ruling.

There's really only one thing that's really pulling me down. And, I'm kissing him right now.

Yeah, it's Aang. Kami, truly I do love him. Just, not in the way he wants me to. The way he thinks I do. He's my best friend, not a boyfriend or a little brother. I shouldn't be kissing him, but I'm hoping maybe that I'll feel the sparks, see the fireworks.

Still waiting….not a single spark.

I break off the kiss and smile, faking it. I care for Aang too much. I can't dream of hurting him. There's no way I could do that to him. So, why did I kiss him?

To get someone else off my mind. I'm such a horrible person.

Aang grabs my hand and entwines our fingers. "I'm so happy right now."

"So am I." I'm lying through my teeth. I've never felt more like crying than I do right now.

-

A few days pass. Luckily for me, I don't see Aang that much. He and Sokka along with others are stuck in war, sorry, peace councils. They take place in the same exact room! I was invited to go to them, but after sitting through one I decided not to. It was so awkward sitting there with Aang holding hands and passing notes that consisted of 'cutesy' messages. Especially with other people in the room watching.

Of course, peace would not last. There was some type of issue happening in the Southern Earth Kingdom that only the Avatar could solve. Aang invited me to come along and I couldn't refuse.

"Katara, are you done packing?" Aang asks me. We're leaving that day. Pretty soon actually.

"I need a few more minutes. You go on and start saying goodbyes. I'll be right down!" I shout at him. He's antsy. He's still a little kid even though he's a teenager. Kami, oh Kami.

I stand in the doorway, fingering my necklace. So many memories are tied to this necklace. Some are my father's, making the necklace for my mother. Some are my mother's, silenced by pirate raiders and never to be shared. Most are mine, of adventures and journeys and travels. There's also a string of memories that aren't mine, but belong to someone who found it and then returned it.

It's a beautiful necklace.

I'm walking outside when I see Zuko standing behind a column. He motions me over. I hesitate for a split second, hearing everyone outside talking. He's alone. I walk over.

"Zu—I mean, Fire Lord," I start to say.

"How many times do I have to tell? Just 'Zuko.'" He smiled. How that smile melted my heart.

"Zuko, I—" He placed a finger on my lips. His skin was hot.

"Katara, I'm happy for you and the Ava-Aang. Truly, I am. I always knew that you two would find each other in the end—"

"Hang on! Are you serious?" I can't believe what he's saying. I'm in shock.

Zuko seems confused. "Yes. Katara, it was obvious that you two are meant to be. Why are you crying? Katara?"

I brush away my tears, feeling more take their place.

"How can you say that, Zuko?!" My voice has risen to scream. I don't care. My voice is echoing in the empty hall.

"Shhh, Kata, please—" He calls me by my nickname. He can't. He shouldn't. But, Kami, I love the sound.

"I will not be quiet!"

"Katara—"

"Did that kiss mean nothing to you?!"

Zuko freezes, his gold eyes wide. He opens his mouth to speak, but I don't want to hear it.

_Slap!_

I stare, surprised at what I just did. Zuko's shocked. His face is turned, his scar facing me. I realize that I hit his scar. The scar that I almost healed.

He can't say anything. I can't say anything. I can't cry. He can't comfort me. We belong to different people now.

I close my eyes tightly, holding back tears, before I turn and run out the doors. Zuko doesn't call me back.

"Katara, were you crying?" Aang asks me, an arm around my waist. I feel my stomach turn.

"I wasn't crying," I say smiling.

Luck was on my side because Toph isn't anywhere around. She couldn't point out my lie.

"You ready to go, Sugar Queen?" Speak of the devil.

Toph's coming with Aang and me as a chaperone. At Sokka and Dad's insistence.

"Let's go," I say, hoping to get away before I have to see Zuko again.

"I didn't get to say goodbye to Sparky." Toph pouts. Aang laughs.

Oh shoot. She probably 'saw' what happened.

"We really should get going," Aang says reluctantly. "We'll be back in a week. Surely Zuko can stand you absence for a week."

"He'll be grateful," Sokka shouts, laughing. Toph punches him. "Ow!"

"Tell Sparky goodbye for me," Toph tells Mai.

"'Sparky?' I'm guessing you mean my boyfriend."

Boyfriend. _Boyfriend_. Oh, that hurt. More than it should of.

"Come on Kata, get on!" Aang calls to me. He's sitting on Appa. Toph's already on Appa's back. I toss my bag up next to Toph and then jump up. I sit across from Toph.

Appa's up in the air. If Toph wasn't here, I'd be crying. Quietly, of course. Aang's upwind, so he wouldn't be able to hear. My heart aches.

"Katara?" Toph's voice is low, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I….never mind."

"What is it?" I honestly don't care whether or not she tells me. But, I keep playing the role of the caring person.

"Nothing." Her cheeks are faintly pink.

I'm intrigued now. Just barely, though. "Come on, Toph. Tell!"

"Canyouteachmewaterbending!" It takes me a few seconds to figure out what she asked.

"What?"

"Can….you….teach—"

"I get that. Why?"

Toph blushes slightly. That's weird. "Sparky's uncle developed that redirecting lightning move from watching waterbender. Sparky thought I could do the same thing with earthbending."

"Uh….why not?" Does she have a crush on Zuko? No. she can't. Can she? She punches him a lot. That's how she shows affection. Maybe she does.

"One other thing."

"What?"

"Don't tell Aang or anyone."

"Why not?"

"I don't want everyone to have all these expectations of me."

"Okay. I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks, Katara."

* * *

**AN: **Just over 1000 words. The story line may seem a little sporadic, but I know where it's going. Vaguely. Ok, not really, but I'm good with that. The opening song lyrics are from "1000 Words" by Jade or the Final Fantasy people; I'm not sure. It inspired this story. Suggestions, comments, corrections, flames, I welcome all. Review if so inclined.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Words Never Spoken**_

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. The lyrics are from "1000 Words (Orchestra Version)" from FFX2 or something like that.

**AN: **Sorry about the hold up. I had trouble organizing my thoughts. I think the chapter's pretty good. The characters are agreeing with me more. R&R if so inclined.

* * *

_I acted so distant then,_

_Didn't say goodbye before you left,_

_But I was listening,_

_You fight your battles far from me,_

_Far too easily._

* * *

"Toph, you're too stiff. You have to bend more, go with the flow."

"I don't like the flow, Sugar Queen!"

Typical Toph. Always resisting. It's our waterbending lesson. Aang's off, dealing with the problem. He didn't want body guards, as he fondly calls us. Toph was being Toph, translation: annoying. So, I decided to teach her.

"If you want to learn waterbending, you have to go with the flow. There's no if, ands, or buts about it."

Toph sighed and fell into a heap on the ground. "I'm not so sure about this, Sugar Queen."

I sigh, completely exasperated. "Toph, if you're not going to do exactly what I say, then this lesson is pointless!"

Toph sits up. "Kata…."

She keeps talking, but I stop listening. Kata. _He_ called me that. I miss that sound. I _need_ to hear that sound. But, I'm very busy convincing myself I don't need to. But, Kami, I do.

I realize Toph is silent, waiting for me to say something. "What?"

"I said, what's getting you down? You haven't been the same since we left the Fire Nation."

"Nothing." I try to stay calm, not to betray my lie.

"I can tell you're lying!" Toph says, sing-song.

Why, WHY do I have to be friends with a blind earthbender who can 'see' through the earth?!

"Come on, tell me. It's just us girls."

"I'm not sure you can count as a girl, Toph."

She looks slightly offended, but says, "Truer words have never been spoken. Oh wait, my parents said it a few hundred times."

"We need to get back to our lesson. Aang will be back soon." I look away, forgetting that Toph can't see.

"Katara, you need to talk about it."

"No, I don't."

"I know what happened between you and Sparky. I heard what you said, too."

"How—How did you hear it?" I play with my hair, a nervous habit of mine. I really don't like where this conversation is going.

"I was in the room. Geez. I was trying to get out of the stupid palace." She played with some rocks.

"So?" Maybe if I act like it's nothing, she'll think it's nothing.

"What did you mean about a kiss?"

No such luck.

"I meant nothing. And what your crush on him?"

Toph's silent. She didn't expect that.

"Who does Toph have a crush on?" Aang says, shocking us both. We jump.

"Toph has a crush on no one," Toph answers, standing up and kicking at the ground.

"How'd it go?" I ask, trying to smile.

Aang hugs me and leans in for a kiss. I turn my head, so he kisses my cheek. I see Toph's face in the corner of my eye, it's solemn. Completely blank of any emotion. I know she 'sees' what's happening.

-

Time passes. A week has gone by. Two weeks. A month. Six months. A year. Toph and I don't have anymore waterbending lessons. Aang has us start accompanying him. I hide my tears that I have not cried.

We return to the Fire Nation, but it's only for a day. The Fire Lord is not there.

There's another problem. This one takes four months, so we return to the Fire Nation. This time, we stay for a week. Just as we're leaving, we run into the Fire Lord. Aang smiles and waves at him from across the hall. Toph waves. I ignore his gaze. I look over my shoulder at him, seeing him holding Mai. That hurts. Just as much as it hurts me being held by Aang and not by him. My heart aches.

We leave quickly. Another issue, another year. I should have said goodbye. I should have.

But, I didn't. He has other things on his mind, other things to deal with. Things that are far away from me.

We're celebrating Toph's birthday. She just turned sixteen.

"Happy birthday, Toph!" I say cheerfully, handing her a present.

"Thanks, Sugar Queen. Um, what is it?"

"It's a….dress." I say this in a small voice. "I thought it would look nice with your eyes."

"You got me a dress?" I can't gauge her tone.

"Yes."

Toph strokes the garment. "It's really…nice. Thanks, Katara."

"You're not going to freak out? It's a dress."

Toph looks thoughtful, but happy as she pets the dress. "No. I'm sixteen. I think I can wear a dress."

"Don't worry, the person who made it said that the cloth was resistant to mud and dust," Aang says cheerfully. "I was there when she picked it out!"

"But that doesn't mean that you should jump into the mud whenever you're wearing it!" I warn, laughing slightly.

Toph snaps her fingers. "That was exactly what I wanted to do."

"Here, open mine!" Aang tosses a badly wrapped box with holes to Toph.

I watch her open it, not really seeing it. It's been four years since the war ended. So much has changed since then. So much has stayed the same. Things happen for a reason, don't they? Well, why am I still with Aang? There's nothing in our relationship. Even Aang senses it now. I was his first crush. In a way, I was a mother figure. I took care of him. I _still_ take care of him.

"Katara! Look at what Aang got me!" Toph's smiling like a little girl. She holds up a furry creature. It's furry and it has several legs. "It's a bison!"

"But…I thought all the air bison were extinct!"

"There's another besides Appa," Aang answers, grinning. "A woman cares for her, up in the mountains. I ran into her a while ago…and you know how mating and stuff goes."

Yes, yes I do know about mating and 'stuff'. I was the one who explained it to both Aang and Toph. Neither one of them would look me straight in the eye for a week.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" I ask.

"A girl," Aang answers.

"I'll name her…Yun!" Toph said, cuddling the multi-legged creature.

"'Cloud'?" Aang and I ask.

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?"

"No!"

We all laugh. I wish things could stay like this. No one's dating anyone. It's just like old times. I hug Toph and Aang, my heart aching. I keep remembering the last group hug we had. Me, Toph, Aang, Suki, Sokka, and Zuko.

"Hey, what's that?" Aang asks, shielding his eyes against the setting sun. There's a speck in the sky.

"It's Sokka!" Toph shouts wildly.

"Close. It's Sokka's messenger hawk!" I say, the hawk landing on my shoulder. It's carrying a letter. Aang grabs the letter.

"What's it say?"

Aang's eyes race down the page. "We're supposed to return to the Fire Nation as soon as we read this."

"That all?" I ask.

"Sokka asked Suki to marry him!"

"What?!" Toph and I scream. I grab the letter and skim. Sure enough, my brother is getting married.

Yun coos and tries to fly. Toph hangs onto her. Aang scratches his head and says if we hurry we'll get there before morning. In a matter of moments, we're in the air.

We're returning to the Fire Nation. I'm seventeen. Aang and Toph are sixteen. My brother's eighteen, a little old for a Water Tribe warrior to be getting married. Zuko's twenty, well past the age of marriage. I'm at the later edge of getting married. Aang and Toph are at the perfect age. I've been thinking about marriage a lot lately.

I lean over and whisper to Toph, "I'll start teaching water bending again, if you want."

"Sugar Queen…" Toph says. "Thanks."

I doze off. Sometime that night, Aang comes over and kisses me lightly on the lips. He tells me it's my turn to guide Appa. As I sit in the darkness, I touch my lips and remember a particular kiss.

His lips were as hot as the fire he bended.

* * *

**AN:** You all know who that guy is (ZUKO!). This chapter was sort of fillerish, but I needed to get some stuff in. I added the flying bison, because…I thought it was cute. I wanted to give Toph a little, cuddly creature and flying bison was the first thing that came to mind. I kind of want a baby flying bison myself…oh well. New chapter in a week. Sooner, if you guys review a ton. Thanks for reading.


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